New Year – 2018 and a whole new set of Five Minute Friday free writes with Kate Motaung. Thanks, Kate, for getting us motivated with a great first word of the year.
{Motivate} Set the timer for 5:00 and here we go!
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 1 Corinthians 13:11 ESV
This scripture describes me as a physical child, absolutely. It also describes me as a spiritual child.
When I was a younger woman I had so much to say and I wanted to be heard. I was known as a woman of many words. People who had little time and/or patience avoided me in the grocery store. They pretended not to see me 10 feet away though I was looking straight into their gaze.
I was motivated by wanting people to hear what I had learned. I was new to the Bible and digging into truth. One of the most exciting aspects of life for me was sharing with anyone who would listen, the really overwhelming Good News which had come alive to me.
However, I was motivated incorrectly. I wanted to be heard. I wanted to be right. I wanted to have a platform, and make a difference. I wanted to do something important. None of these activities or desires or passions are wrong when motivated by the plans and desires of God.
As I began to sense a need to be trained and matured by my Father, the verse which struck a deep place… Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 ESV (paraphrase)
My one-word for 2018 is obedience. I have learned and pray I will continue to learn my greatest freedom comes within the boundaries of my Father’s making. It is in obedience because of my delight in my Creator Father that I find the desires of my heart fulfilled.
If that sounds like fluff to you? Maybe you’re thinking that’s nice for you, but my life isn’t like that. Know I used to think that too. So, don’t take my word for it. Rather take God at His Word. Ask Him to teach you. Taste and see the Lord is good, and His Word is true. He is faithful to grow us up when we ask and desire to grow under His instruction.
Bless you to know Him better in 2018!
Eyes on Jesus… you’re Shining!
Lisa
Love your post. My word this year is ‘purpose’, but fits nicely with yours as my focus is to live God’s purpose for my life. Thank you for sharing on the fmf fb community. 🙂
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Thanks for spending some of your precious time with me today! I appreciate your encouragement. Your word is fantastic and meant especially for you! I bless you to find the fullness of it’s meaning for your life!
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“Taste and see the Lord is good…”
Someone said these words to me yesterday and they made my soul hurt. I believe that God is calling me, drawing me, to a place of deeper trust and intimacy in the coming months. Even though I have walked with Him for years and even though I’ve got a theology degree, there are many days when I struggle to believe that He is truly good and loving. So much of my life is marked by fear and I hate that that fear tinges my relationship with Him.
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I love your honesty, Marie! I will walk with you in this deeper place of trust. I love you, sister friend!!
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Hi Lisa! Visiting you from FMF today. Thanks for being so transparent in your former failures. I think it’s really hard to be reflective and listen to God’s voice when He’s asking us to be molded and made into something new. Obedience sounds like a great word for the new year.
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Obedience – wonderful word for 2018…for every year. Every day! So thankful that the Lord patiently and tenderly continues to mature us every year! Ah, the ideas I had has “a child”:)
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Thanks so much for joining in the conversation. I appreciate your encouragement as I seek to keep my eyes on Jesus and shine for Him.💝💝
#knittedhearts
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Obedience is a great word for the year, though I’m sure challenging! It is so important to check our motivation though and to do what we do out of obedience to God rather than to impress others.
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I’m sure it will be great and challenging. I’m counting on it for growth. It’s the times I have not obeyed God that have scraped me raw. 💔
Thanks for spending some of your precious time here with me. 💝💝 #knittedhearts
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Stopping by from FMF….obedience, such a strong word. May you be challenged in the best ways to grow your faith in Christ.
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Yes. I love the freedom I’ve felt in staying in His boundaries. The Shepherd’s had to break a leg to get me to stay but it’s worth it.💔👑👧
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Walking with you, my friend, in obedience, knowing we will stumble. Let’s walk together in His light with Jesus as the Cornerstone leaving behind the old pride.
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Yes! Let’s walk it out together!
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Amen!
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Thank you for this, all of it!
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